Eagle Insider

Driving Question:

How do inform, entertain, and unite the middle school student body through a news program?

Project Description:

Students in this project take on the role of newscasters. They research, write, produce, and distribute the news to the middle school student body. Through this program, students will aim to inform, entertain, and unite their school.

Individual Products:

I honestly haven't done a great job with the individual product yet, but I have a great idea for it: a writing portfolio. Oftentimes the news cycle is so fast that critique and revision doesn't happen as much as I would like (at least with writing). If given time in the middle and at the end of the project, students could really improve their writing skills by using their peers, a rubric, and willing professional anchors/writers.

Team Products: Best Team Broadcast

Public Audience:

Student broadcasts are uploaded to YouTube and posted on the middle school announcements Edmodo group.

Project Overview, Student Learning Guide, and Assessment Maps

Not formalized yet.

Project Calendar:

Same as above

Ancillary Materials:

Same as above

Teacher Reflections:

Pros:The project is LOADED with technology. The amount of technology tools that students get their hands in with this project is incredible. Here's a quick list:

If it was just one broadcast, students wouldn't learn much about these tools, but because they record three, they have a good amount of time to fail forward. Additionally, I can't tell you how many mini-lessons I give to small groups of students along the way. It really makes for a fun, active process.

This could be a pro and a con, but it's designed to allow students three broadcasts to perfect their craft. Their best broadcast of the three is used for their final group product grade. Three broadcasts isn't quite enough to get them to the proficiency I'd like. I think four or five would be better if time is available. At the same time, with only three the students leave with a feeling of wanting more. That's cool. You know you're doing something well when the students want to learn more.

Cons:I think the reflection components need to be a bit more targeted, namely on the protocols. For example, the production protocol has students turning things on and preparing scripts for 10 minutes, shooting practice broadcasts for 20, a final broadcast for 5, and then 10 minutes for upload and distribution. Teams ALWAYS get started late and have a hard time finishing. They start to figure out time management towards the end through some hard lessons, but it would be super helpful if I had them reflect on it as part of the reflection protocol.

The best parts of our broadcasts are the interviews where students go and find information. Those interviews unite our student body the most and provide a fantastic opportunity for students to grow their communication skills, but they don't have enough time to put them together. Every man on the street video my teams edited was planned and shot during class and then edited during study hall. It takes one period to research and write as story, but it takes two periods to develop questions, shoot, and edit a man on the street video. Need to find a way to make that work more smoothly so students don't have to come in on their free time.

Currently, the design doesn't turn students into newsies. For this to really catch on fire, students need to be fired up about the news. After talking to my wife, (current events teacher extraordinaire) she recommended doing a round table discussion on a few news stories at the start of the project. Doing so shows them how interesting the news can be if you take the time to discuss it. It would also be fantastic if later on, another round table could occur (say after the second broadcast) where the students pick the articles. But instead of just throwing them into research without prep, actually have them download a few news apps and turn on notifications for a couple weeks to see what happens.

Set aside time to work 1 on 1 with directors before the first broadcast. It's an intense job, and they need more training b/f going live.

Add mini-lesson on downloading clips of YouTube videos. Stories are SOOO much more powerful when they cut to a video.

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